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The reemergence of aesthetics in China's early reform period witnessed a wide-ranging embrace of the early Marxist vocabulary of species-being, alienation, and unalienated labor, in tandem with a wave of interest in developments in Soviet aesthetics that had arisen over the 1960s and 1970s. Above all, Chinese aestheticians were enthused by the Soviet field of "technical aesthetics," which marked those currents in Soviet aesthetic thought that extended the possibilities of beauty beyond the delimited space of the artwork or literary creation to envision how factory labor might become an aesthetic process, simultaneously productive and artistic. By tracing the trajectory of these currents of aesthetic thought against the background of Marxist humanism, I show the ways in which Soviet–Chinese aesthetic encounters conditioned the fashioning of the post-Maoist factory as creative space and the postsocialist figure of the human as creative laborer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we develop an endogenous growth model to analyze how fiscal and monetary policies can manage the macroeconomic effects of the robotization process. We consider that unskilled labor can be replaced by robots and that: (i) the government collects tax revenues to invest in social capital and compensate those who lose their jobs; (ii) there is monetary policy with cash-in-advance restrictions; (iii) social capital contributes to increasing technological-knowledge progress. Our results confirm that robotization stimulates economic growth, but contributes to widening wage inequality between skilled and unskilled workers. We show that, under specific circumstances, an expansionary monetary policy or a more progressive taxation can attenuate such widening effect. We also show that public investment in social capital and public transfers to those who lose their jobs play a crucial role in attenuating the negative consequences of rising unemployment caused by robotization. • We develop an endogenous growth model in which unskilled labor can be replaced by robots. • The government collects taxes to invest in social capital and compensate those who lose their jobs. • Monetary policy is included through cash-in-advance restrictions. • Robotization stimulates economic growth and increases wage inequality. • Fiscal and monetary policies can be crucial to attenuate the negative impacts of robotization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study, conducted through a combination of interviews, surveys, and direct observations, examines the exploitation of sleep-in domestic workers from Lesotho who work in South African households. Based on data collected from 15 participants, the research brings to light the difficult living conditions these workers face, including a lack of privacy and inadequate working environments. The study identifies several key issues, such as the absence of written contracts, leaving workers susceptible to exploitation, unpaid overtime, and widespread non-compliance with minimum wage laws. The research shows that domestic workers encounter major obstacles in getting necessary healthcare and support services, which worsens their already unstable situation. The study also emphasizes the lack of chances for training and skills improvement, which hampers the workers' ability to enhance their lives and find better job opportunities. Many of these domestic workers are the main providers for their families and single parents, making the importance of fair pay and good working conditions even more crucial. The study highlights the significance of fair pay and good working conditions, stressing the urgent need for these rights and immediate policy interventions to be upheld. The research aims to bring attention to the systemic exploitation faced by this vulnerable group and advocate for essential reforms to protect their rights and improve their living and working conditions. Overall, the study emphasizes the pressing need for policy interventions and support mechanisms to empower domestic workers and enhance their quality of life in South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This chapter relies on tax records to estimate the distribution of wealth in 19th century Lima. In particular, by using real estate tax records of 1836 and 1857, I estimate the distribution of wealth of proprietors of Lima prior and during the Guano Era. I find that wealth inequality among proprietors remained practically the same in those two years. During this period of economic bonanza, social mobility was possible but did not change the distribution of wealth. Wealth inequality remained practically the same across real estate proprietors. On the other hand, a comparison of the wealth of proprietors and the labor income of laborers suggests that inequality between proprietors and low-skilled workers increased during the Guano Era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper takes online shopping into consideration, and constructs general equilibrium models to analyze how consumers' dependence on online shopping affects rural‐urban skilled‐unskilled wage inequality. We find that when consumers' dependence on online shopping increases, wage inequality can be conditionally narrowed down, depending on the unskilled labor intensity in the urban manufacturing sector and the possible elasticity of the contract price. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How do workers come to know what their bosses need and want? This paper shows how laborers in patrimonial work environments learn to serve their bosses through bottom-up observation, rather than top-down instruction. The author uses the case of assistants in Hollywood to introduce the concept of sousveillance work, which is the labor of monitoring, anticipating, and fulfilling a boss’s mutable needs and wants. Drawing on 60 + interviews with professionals in Hollywood, the author reveals how sousveillance work helps assistants manage-up and mitigate volatility wrought by their patrimonial superiors. The concept of sousveillance work adds to research on labor and uncertainty in creative industries, and also helps to reveal how patrimonial systems are sustained in contemporary work environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]